Dwelling - Longford

History/Notes
The site at 24 Stephen Street comprised Lot 5 of the Brooklyn Estate advertised for sale by public auction on 24 March 1923. The estate had earlier been part of Alfred Price's "Brooklyn" property (now addressed as 132-134 Aphrasia Street). The existing timber dwelling was built in 1926 by Joseph Crisp, presumably as an investment property. Crisp built a number of dwellings in the area in the early 20th century, including the timber Bungalow at 2 Stephen Street in 1925-26. He sold the property to Herbert
Lavers in 1928. In 1931, Lavers had a sleepout built.

Herbert Lavers was born in c.1879, the son of the Rev. Henry John Lavers of Canterbury, Melbourne. Educated as a chemist, Lavers relocated to Adelaide, South Australia, and by 1904 he was in Broken Hill where, according to Michael Pearson, he 'discovered the value of the phellandrene portion of eucalyptus oil in the separation of metallic sulphides in ores, which process he patented in 1909.' Lavers married Miss Mary Constance Roberts in the Kent Town Methodist Church, Adelaide, in 1906, although he and his wife raised their family in Broken Hill. In 1926, the Barrier Miner gave the following account of Lavers:
'Mr. Herbert Lavers, A.S.A.S.M., M.A.I.M.M., A.A.C.I., chief chemist of Block 14 Co. for the past 20 years, and who early in the year underwent a serious operation in Melbourne, has spent the intervening months in hospital. Mr. Lavers has been medically advised to sever his connection with Broken Hill and take a prolonged rest. ... He has been intimately connected with the Methodist Church here, and ... as Sunday School teacher, trustee, envelope steward, and circuit steward, he has been a most valuable worker. His splendid organising ability was in large demand. ' Lavers retired with his family to 24 Stephen Street where he died in 1966.

The original design of the timber interwar Bungalow is discernible in the L- planned gable roof forms, flat-roofed corner verandah supported by rendered piers and squat posts, gable infill, broad eaves and timber framed double hung box windows. The front shallow-pitched addition has undermined the dwelling's integrity.

References:
Victorian Births, Deaths & Marriages Indexes, Dept. of Justice.
Newtown Rate Books, 1925, 1926, 1927, 1928, 1935, Geelong Library & Heritage Centre.
Newtown Building Permits, 1926, 1931, City of Greater Geelong.
The Argus, 9 May 1931, p.11, 18 June 1932, p.17, 13 May 1927, p.20.
Barrier Miner (Broken Hill, N.S.W.), 15 January 1926, p.2.
M. Pearson, 'The Good Oil: Eucalyptus Oil Distilleries in Australia,
Australasian Historical Archaeology, vol. 11, 1991, p.101. The Age, 14 August 1940, p.5.

Group

Residential buildings (private)

Category

House